


The Perfect Sharpay

by AmazingTomHollandisnotonfire



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Choreographed by Carlos Rodriguez, Hurt/Comfort, I got this idea from Tumblr, Insecure Seb, M/M, Pre-Show Freakout, Protective Carlos, Seb has a supportive family but they don't know he plays Sharpay, Seb is an adorable baby who need to be protected, Seb is my Sharpay, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, as of today Carlos has last name, love and protect Carlos Rodriguez, that makes everything in life worth it, they are in the audience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:00:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22040731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmazingTomHollandisnotonfire/pseuds/AmazingTomHollandisnotonfire
Summary: Seb has a pre-show freakout and Carlos is there to talk him out of it
Relationships: Carlos Rodriguez/Seb Matthew-Smith, Carlos/Seb Matthew-Smith
Comments: 5
Kudos: 72





	The Perfect Sharpay

**Author's Note:**

> I've seen this idea going around on the Seblos tumblr tag so I thought I'd write about it because I know we aren't getting any Seblos content in episodes nine or ten. This takes place during episode nine and is based on the group huddle pre-show and tumblr.

Seb couldn't register how much time he had left but he knew it wasn't much. Ricky and Nini were finishing up "Start of Something New" which meant that Sharpay would be walking onstage very soon.

It was finally opening night - the night the cast and crew of High School Musical: The Musical had worked so hard towards. The pre-show huddle with Nini, Ricky, E.J, Kourtney, Big Red, Ashlyn, and Carlos was very intense and while everyone's jitters were obvious, so was everyone's excitement as they waited for their moment to shine. Well, everyone except Seb. Seb was strictly nerves, but now the show had already begun and he knew he needed to snap out of it. So instead of standing in the wings watching their show as the rest of the cast was, Seb was pacing backstage where no one could see him having a freakout. Nini had already had her nervous breakdown, so no one expected another cast member to follow suit, especially not "Sharpay".

Ever since Seb first watched High School Musical as a young eight-year-old, Sharpay became his dream role. She was so strong, fashionable, and confident in her own skin: everything that Seb wanted to be. So when Seb got the role of Sharpay, he could not have been happier. Seb would like to think that as the years-or even weeks since the auditions-went on he started becoming more like her, but at this moment he couldn't think of one time he embodied her dazzling personality. Seb hadn't felt this insecure about his role since before the auditions. He figured he got the role for a reason and he was determined to do Ashley Tisdale justice. However, the more his mind wandered, the more his confidence started to shake. He thought about the other talented girls who auditioned for Sharpay, many of which he was sure he was going to lose the part to. He thought about Kourtney singing "Bop to the Top" during tech week, which didn't bother him before but now he couldn't get her amazing voice out of his head. He used to look at his Sharpay costumes with a warm feeling a belonging. Now, the white jeans, pink button-down, and darker pink blazer made him sick, and he was too aware of the sparkles, pink hair-dye, and eyeshadow that he wore proudly only a couple weeks ago.

Seb was no Sharpay. What was he thinking when he decided to audition for her? He should have just auditioned for Ryan as Miss Jenn suggested. Something was going to go wrong, he could feel it. _Would he trip and actually break a heal? Would the audience erupt into laughter when he tried to act out her harsh dramatics? What would his family think of him playing a girl? Who wears nothing but pink?_ Seb could feel his breathing get heavier and faster and more scenarios went through his head. Seb was so lost in thought he didn’t hear someone approaching him cautiously.

"Seb?" Seb felt a hand on his shoulder and he stopped in his tracks. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. Carlos. His amazing, supportive boyfriend who always managed to make him feel better, even if Carlos had no idea he was doing it.

"You okay?" Carlos asked him softly after a moment of silence. He was almost too entranced by Seb's first costume, but he knew that his boyfriend seriously needed help. Seb gave him a weak smile and nod in return, not convincing Carlos at all. Carlos raised an eyebrow, urging Seb to open up to him as Carlos himself had started to do to Seb.

"I-" Seb gulped and closed his eyes. He knew that Carlos was a great person. If Seb told him his pre-show worries, Carlos would talk him down from them by any means necessary. While he didn't want to hear his boyfriend lie, Sharpay was going to go on any minute so he needed all the reassurance he could get. "What if I can't do this? I'm no Sharpay. What if they see right through me and laugh because they know I don't fit this part?"

Carlos stood in complete silence as Seb spoke, each word breaking his heart a little bit more. Carlos wasn't blind - he could see Seb's shakiness during the group huddle, but he thought it was just nerves. He never thought for one second that Seb would be feeling doubtful about his own ability to play his dream role.

"Seb no of course not-where is this coming from?" Seb shrugged and Carlos knew what he needed to do. He told his boyfriend to wait there and walked away to grab something to show Seb once and for all he was born to play the role of Sharpay.

-

Seb watched confused as Carlos returned with Miss Jenn's director files. As far as Seb was concerned, no one except the creative team had looked inside. Carlos, on the other hand, figured that if E.J could look at his file for guidance than so could Seb. Carlos opened the box and pulled out a file and handed it to him. Seb held the file labeled "Sharpay" and opened it, pulling out the form Miss Jenn and Carlos filled out during his audition. Seb read the writing in blue pen first.

"Fresh look on the role"

"Softer appearance, possibly letting Sharpay have less of a villainous storyline"

Seb nodded along with the comments, none of them really making him feel worse but not necessarily better either. He moved on to the comments in red that he knew were from Carlos.

"Obviously put heart and soul into audition - emotional connection to the part"

"passionate, confident. he's the perfect Sharpay"

Seb froze. He reread Carlos' comments over and over to be sure he wasn't misunderstanding anything. Finally, he looked up at his boyfriend who smiled sadly at him.

"This…you wrote this before we started dating."

"Yes. Before we got together, before we even started talking, I knew that you were meant to play this part. You may not show it all the time, but I think that there's a Sharpay inside of you begging to be let out because it's who you really are. And I think that by playing this part you have slowly become more yourself. I believed in you then and I believe in you now. Whatever insecurities are running through your head, ignore them because they couldn't be more wrong. You are passionate. You are confident. You are the perfect Sharpay." Seb smiled wide and blushed. He stepped forward to hug his boyfriend tight.

"Thanks." They hugged for a moment as the world around them seemed to disappear.

Suddenly, both boys perked up as they heard the drums. The ensemble began chanting "Wildcats", meaning that Sharpay was about to make her entrance. Carlos led Seb back to the wing and they stopped where Rico was already ready. They watched as Ricky and E.J discussed the championship game and the chanting began once again. Seb turned back to Carlos, this time the smile never leaving his face.

"Knock em' dead honey," Carlos said, giving Seb shoulder one last reassuring squeeze. If possible, Seb smiled even wider. He heard his cue and wiped the smile from his face. Seb replaced it with Sharpay's signature smirk and the Evans twins walked on stage, Seb never letting Carlos' words leave his mind. _Passionate, Confident, The Perfect Sharpay._

**Author's Note:**

> hope you all enjoyed and I hope that we get more content over the next two weeks.


End file.
